I have a '98 Dodge Caravan. Last year, at about 90,000 miles I had the dealership replace my transmission with a factory remanned transmission. It seemed fine at first but then when I’m at various speeds the car goes bump, bump, which is what it was doing that made me suspect transmission trouble. Sometimes it happens when driving at 55 mph or when I’m stopping, but the occurance is irregular. When I returned to a different dealership (mine when bankrupt), to have it checked since it’s under warranty, they said it wasn’t the transmission, but the linkage and bushings in the front axle. So they replaced them and the car is still doing the little bump, bump. I’d appreciate any suggestions as to what is happening with my car.
Jane,
It sounds to me like a drivability problem with the engine. It could be a bad plug or plug wire, fuel pump, injector etc..... causing the engine to "skip" or "cut out". I would also have them check this route also.
transman
“the linkage and bushings in the front axle”
Huh? You may want to get a more specific description from them. This is a front wheel drive so it doesn’t have “a” front axle. It has two “halfshafts” - one sticks into the driver’s side of a differential (more or less part of the transmission in this case) and the other sticks into the other side of the differential. The each have “constant velocity” (CV) joints, but there isn’t really anything that you could call linkage or bushings related to the axles. If you could clarify what they said - or better yet provide exactly what your invoice says - that would help folks get some guesses.
And is the bump, bump something that you hear - in which case where does it sound like it comes from? Or is it something you feel - in which case, say where you feel it (e.g. seat, steering wheel, feet, etc.) If you hear it and feel it describe it as well as you can.
Why was the transmission replaced? Was it just the bump bump?
I hope you have learned one lesson. Dealers are not magic. They are not better (or worse) than independent mechanics, but they almost always cost more. I would look for an independent (no chain operation) alignment/suspension shop for starters and have it checked out. Let's see what they say.